Tuesday, October 19, 2010

I am having a contest over on my Facebook page. I will be giving away copies of all 7 of my Lovely Ladies Doilies pdf patterns to one lucky winner. The winner will also receive the gift patterns that come with each one, so that makes a total of 14 patterns.
To enter, visit my Facebook page at:http://www.facebook.com/pages/BellaCrochet/195106893710 and leave a comment at the end of the post that starts: "Wow, I have over 1000 fans!"
I will choose a winner at random on Friday morning. I hope to see you on Facebook, and good luck!

Thursday, October 14, 2010

You may remember that a couple of weeks ago, I wrote a post about a tablecloth I made, and how it was stolen during a move. Since I wrote that post, I have been thinking a lot about my tablecloth. It makes me sad that I no longer have it, and I must face the fact that I will probably never take the time to make another one. I actually thought about paying someone to crochet me another one from the pattern, but it just would not be the same. But after lots of reflecting on the tablecloth, and what it meant to me, I have come up with an idea.
My main feeling about my lost tablecloth is that I hope it somehow ended up with someone who appreciates it, who uses it on special occasions and takes pride in it. And I am sure that everyone who spends so much time working on a big project feels the same way about theirs.
So here is my plan: I am going to buy a vintage tablecloth off of Ebay. My thought is that I will be rescuing someone else's dream. I know that for every tablecloth made, someone spent hours and hours, months, even years creating it, all the while dreaming about the holiday dinners that would be served on it, and planning whom they would leave it to when they no longer needed it. Perhaps it was made as a wedding gift for a loved one, or even to be placed in a hope chest. Every tablecloth has it's own special story. I am sure the crocheter never dreamed their beautiful creation would end up on Ebay (or that there would ever be such a thing!)
As I search through the listings, I notice many come from estate sales. But some are listed as "made by my grandmother" which makes me so sad I could cry; don't these people realize what they are selling? I want to send them a message, telling them they are selling a heirloom, but I mind my own business. Maybe one of these tablecloths will be the one I decide to buy.
I don't have any certain style I am looking for, although I do love filet, and if it has roses in the design so much the better. But I also like the pineapple designs and the ones made from thousands of little motifs.
One thing that bugs me is the number of items listed as "hand crocheted" which are not crocheted at all, but machine made lace. But I am sure the person listing it has no idea what it really is, and 'crochet' is as close a discription they can get.
Anyway, it is great fun to search the listings, and imagine who made all these lovely items, every single one someone's dream. I will let you know when I find and purchase the perfect one; but then again, I might not be able to stop at just one.
Wouldn't it be great to have a tablecloth collection?

Thursday, October 07, 2010

I love looking at old Workbaskets from the 40's and 50's. In addition to some really cool old crochet patterns, there are articles on growing geraniums and African violets, and recipes for things like 'peanut butter and bacon canapes' and 'grapefruit coffeecake'.
But what is really the most interesting, at least to me, are the advertisements. They give one quite an interesting glimpse into the past.

There are lots of ads for items designed to make crocheting easier. "Croch-Aid"; how's that for a clever name for a product? Though I am not quite sure what is supposed to do; does it just hold your thread or is there something I am missing?

And who knew Betty White was a crocheter? I would like to try one of her rings, though.

As you can see, women have always been interested in trying to stay slim and beautiful.

Just think, you only have to wear this for 15 minutes a day! I can just imagine David's reaction if he saw me wearing this contraption. I am sure it would be quite Thrilling!

I remember looking at these ads for dolls when I was little; I loved dolls (and I still do! ) I actually convinced my mother to order me the dolls in the "Real Dolls 1 Penny Each" ad. I was so excited; imagine, a hundred dolls! My mother warned me they would probably be too small to really play with, but I was absolutely certain they were going to be wonderful. "Just look," I pointed out to my mother, "most of them are almost as big as the girl in the picture!" I raced to the mail box every day for months, but the package never arrived. And maybe that is just as well. I am sure the 'real dolls' would never have lived up to the dolls in my dreams!

At least I didn't beg Mama to order me a pet through the mail!

At first this ad made me laugh, then I started to worry how many little dogs died while being shipped. Surely this was illegal, but maybe not. I wonder what my friend Pamela, aka Crochethuahua, would think of giving dogs away in order to sell copies of pictures. Her little "miniature dog" Ginger is her baby!

Anyway, that's all for today, except to say if Blogger doesn't do something to make it easier to post pictures I will be moving the blog to a new location soon. It takes a couple of hours to do a simple post with pictures anymore!

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I would love to hear from you!You can write to me at:bellacrochet.info (at) yahoo.comPlease note that I do not email copies of my patterns, and that I feature both my paid and free patterns here on the blog (not every design you see pictured on the blog is free!)

Also, I cannot mail out printed copies of my free patterns. I do not have any other versions of my free patterns available; no PDF's, no translations into other languages, no symbol diagrams, no additional photos and no videos are available. All my free patterns have been tested for accuracy and clarity, and I can offer no additional information or help on any of them. You can find all of my paid patterns in my Etsy shop:https://www.etsy.com/shop/BellaCrochet

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Please do not copy, share, sell or redistribute anything posted on this blog. I do not give anyone permission to make videos or tutorials of any of my patterns (paid or free) for YouTube, personal blogs or any other site. Thank you!

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About Me

I love crochet, and although crochet has been my career and means of support for most of my life, I would crochet every day even if I never made a dime off of it!

But, I have been a professional crochet designer for almost 30 years. I worked as a technical editor for Annie's Attic for two years, and was the in-house designer for Annie's Attic and the NeedleCraft Shop for several years. In 2008, I left DRG Publishing where I was the crochet pattern book coordinator. I am now self-publishing my original designs through my company, BellaCrochet. You can see all my designs in my Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/bellacrochetI love creating vintage- look thread designs- I am a doily and potholder girl! I am the proud mother of 3 daughters and 3 sons, and the grandmother of 16 sweet and wonderful grandchildren. I live on a farm in rural east Texas, with my darlin' man, David.